Where Have You Gone?
by H.Mango
Summary: Murmurs of the truth are ringing from faceless' lips, they see things that the role holders don't. Why do they not see? Why do they not hear? This reality of theirs is distorted. "The outsider is lost."


**Where Have You Gone?**

 **Summary: Murmurs of the truth are ringing from faceless' lips, they see things that the role holders don't. Why do they not see? Why do they not hear? This reality of theirs is distorted. "The outsider is lost."**

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 _ **Prologue**_

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The sound of the ticking clocks ate away at the silence that enveloped the tower. Alice, at the moment, was not present in the strange place she grew accustomed to calling home. This fact didn't bother Julius in the slightest, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was amiss; the dainty footsteps and whispered words that passed along his door did nothing to ease his suspicions. He wondered if Alice had become tired of his fellow role holders' shenanigans and decided to seek solace in the tower, however no matter how tired the lass was, she usually announced her presence. This left Julius to ponder over the thought.

Deciding there to be a greater loss if chances were to prove that the presence was malicious, Julius neatly placed his finished clock along with the rest of his works in a small box. He secured his wrench onto his hand and proceeded to stand; the presence was currently in the kitchen, that much he could tell, so he went off, opened the door, and made sure to close it before he faced whoever had entered his tower.

He made no haste in reaching his destination as he preferred to observe his surroundings first for anything that seemed out of place unlike the hurried but barely audible steps that were approaching him.

Julius was not a man of violence, like the rest of this world's inhabitants, life was cheap for him, but he was the clockmaker, burdened to fix the clocks of this damned world. He preferred not to make his workload heavier than it already was since it was simply far too troublesome.

Why have more clocks pile in, killed by his own hands, when the rest of the world was hellbent on doing so? However in this case, heaving to deal with a live, struggling intruder was even more troublesome. In a dim flash of light, the wrench he once held turned into a silver handgun which had a shorter barrel than most. His grip on the firearm tightened as he felt the invader close more distance between them, if he were to just pass by the corner, then he would be in Julius' line of sight. Silently approaching said corner, he readied his gun and pointed ahead of him to quickly finish his business.

Once the trespasser's head was revealed, it wouldn't take long for Julius to pull the trigger. However, the person who revealed herself was not an unknown intruder; it was simply our dear foreigner. Sighing in annoyance, Julius changed his gun back into a wrench.

What a waste of energy that was, it seems that Alice just forgot to greet him like she usually did. "I didn't expect you to be up and out of your room. Isn't this a pleasant surprise; was there perhaps something that you needed?" Alice inquired; she had not expected the man to appear in front of her as he was usually glued onto his desk, fixing clocks nonstop. His sudden appearance caused the gal to blink owlishly. Unaware the she had been horribly close to getting shot; Alice failed to see the changeover of the gun into a wrench. Dare he say that she didn't even know that the tool was in Julius' possession?

"Must I have a reason to roam the halls of my own tower?" Rather than asking, Julius had simply stated the truth, not that it actually justified the current situation they were in. At this Alice couldn't help but giggle, Julius' obstinate character had further fuelled the girl's amusement. "I believe not, but surely having you out here is unusual." Oh, how blunt this man was, truly there was no comfort in speaking to others like the reassurance of honesty from Julius; it's not that he doesn't lie or tells everything there is to tell, but it was comforting to know that he wouldn't be afraid to speak what was in his mind. To hell with tender actions and soothing words! If you were to do or say something he disagreed on, his words would pierce you in the heart!

"I was on my way to check on something." Seeing as the mistaken intruder was simply Alice, he saw no need to mention it. "It's nothing of relevance, simply a mistake on my part." Alice didn't question him, seeing as he didn't deem it important enough to bring up.

Opening a new topic for conversation, Alice moved to walk alongside Julius, he was on his way back to his room and coincidentally it was Alice's destination. "I was actually on my way to ask if you wanted coffee, I just got these new beans from a shop at the outskirts of town, the kind old lady that owned the shop boasted of their great quality. It wouldn't be a harm to try them out."

"Unfortunately, having coffee as of the moment would be a waste. Seems like the amount of clocks had lessened considerably these past few turns, unless you have a ploy to keep me awake for one reason or another then there's no real need for it." Julius remained apathetic towards their conversation, simply entertaining his guest in mindless chatter before they reached his room. At the very least he was more open in their conversations nowadays, when Alice had first arrived, simply having the man give a proper reply towards casual conversation proved to be a difficult task.

"Must you think that I have a motive? I'm simply offering goodwill to my landlord by helping him out in any way possible." Such words were uttered, laced with childlike mirth; her teasing manner of speaking, laid bare for Julius to hear.

Truly messing around with such a man was greatly entertaining for the young lady. Sadly, their time for banter was cut short before it had begun. Opening the door for both himself and the outsider, they gone inside and went on their merry ways. She took a thick plain old red book that was placed on the shelf and sat down near the coffee table. She opened the book and searched for where she last read. Meanwhile, Julius passed by the girl and gone to sit down on his usual spot at his working space. "Have you ever played hide and seek, Julius?" The eerie feeling had not left him yet, something didn't quite fit in, and this unsettled him greatly. He placed his glasses on the bridge of his nose, took a clock among the small pile of broken ones, opened a drawer where extra parts were hidden, and so, as Alice would like to call it, proceeded to work his magic.

"Memories of my childhood are but a haze in my mind."

"Really now?" Neither yes or no, his answer was vague, but it was the truth. He was a man who preferred to avoid living by the past, though the past ties him down, what mattered to him was the present. What use would there be in living by the past which had long ended or living by the future which had not begun? Nothing, he just had to continue his work as the clockmaker. However, ever since the foreigner entered his life, it was as if a new task was handed to him. It wasn't a rule given by Wonderland, it was an inevitable truth that he himself created without knowing. He cared for the girl. Due to this fact, he couldn't focus. Heaving out a tired sigh and letting go of his work, he raised his head to look at the girl under his care. "Now, why don't you tell me what you actually need from me."

At first Alice had seemed confused as to what Julius was referring to, but not too long after that, a small smile crept its way onto her lips. Closing the book and placing it on the coffee table, the girl giggled slightly before she stood up. "It's nice to see that you're straight to the point as always. That trait of yours never changes." All the while, Julius observed the girl before him, taking in every movement that might help pinpoint the cause of his unease. "This room too, it hasn't changed one bit." She slowly circled the room, taking in every detail with slight nostalgia, a melancholic smile played by her lips. Turning to look at the clockmaker, the outsider took a few steps backwards. The light from the window was bright, it enveloped her figure, and somehow it made her seem to flicker from existence.

"Why don't we play a game?"

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 **A/N: To be honest with you guys, I have NO idea what I'm doing haha**

 **I'm totally** **obsessed with the Alice series right now, I don't think I'd be able to live without it, so we need to revive this fandom people! The updates of most stories had stopped on 2013, I can't force the author's motivation back, BUT I can keep on supporting them. Even if it's been 4 years or so, dropping a single review on their story would mean so much after all those years of not updating.**

 **If this fandom revives and becomes popular then more fanfics for us! Hurray!**

 **I'm not one to talk but I hope the peeps out there could get over their own shyness from posting stories and somehow get motivated to write too, cause I love reading, and all of you out there are great authors. Everyone has potential and stuff, and the rest of the community is like here to help you get over your mistakes and improve. I'm sorry for being nosy.**


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